So my roommate and I moved into an apartment about 4 months ago that allows pets. My roommate did not tell me she had a cat until about 10 minutes AFTER we signed the lease. She said she didnt want to pay the pet fee or additional rent. I accepted the cat anyway and told her that she is fully responsible for this animal, despite me being allergic to cats. I also said that if it comes down to it, she is responsible for the $300 pet fee and addition to rent since this is not my animal.
I've noticed the past two months that shes not caring for this animal. I have a separate bathroom which has a door that cannot close completely, making it easy for the cat to get in. My roommate locks her cat out of her room at night, which isn't good because the litterbox is in her room. So the cat has been going to the bathroom on my bathroom floor 2-3 times a week. My roommate only saw it as an issue when the cat pooped in her closet. I hadn't realized that my roommate hadn't cleaned the litterbox since we've moved in, because it stays in her room.
In response to this issue, my roommate advised that I keep my doors shut at all times. When I leave the house but also when I'm home - her reasoning was so that the cat knew it wasnt okay to go in there. So I'm basically living shut off and with my doors closed at all times.
So the other night, I had left between 8-9pm to go to a friends house and didnt come back until about 8am the next morning. I looked around the room and shut the door before leaving. Comes to find out the next morning, 12hrs later, her cat was hidden and I did not notice she was in my room before shutting the door. Her cat destroyed the carpet near my door, and the leasing office quoted $400-500 to get it replaced after we move out in 8 months.
I was upset, as anyone else would have been, but came up with compromise. When I confronted her she was immediately rude and defensive. She also assumed that I'd right away want to give the cat away, and spoke to me like I was the one to suggest it or force it.
Despite not being around enough, I told her she could keep the cat, however she needed to tell the office about the animal to avoid problems later on or when we move out or try leasing again. Since I accidentally locked the cat in, I offered to cover $100 of the $300 fee, $10 of the $35 in additional monthly rent, and 1/3rd of the price to fix the carpet. I felt that 12 hrs was a long time to not hear the cat scratch and yell on the other side of the door - her cat usually complains after 5-10mins when locked in somewhere, which is how we notice shes stuck sometimes. I also put forth my own money to try training the cat not to go down my hallway (static mat, water spritzer, etc) and an extra method to prevent this cat from ruining my things when I want to keep my door open.
Is my offer reasonable? What would you have done in my situation? Is there anything else that I could offer?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/biz4p5/am_i_fully_liable/
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